【中美创新时报2025 年 1 月 25 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）参议院已确认克里斯蒂·诺姆为国土安全部长，让这位南达科他州州长负责一个对国家安全和唐纳德·特朗普总统打击非法移民计划至关重要的庞大机构。美联社记者斯蒂芬·格罗夫斯报道对此作了下述详细报道。
参议院于周六确认克里斯蒂·诺姆为国土安全部长，让这位南达科他州州长负责一个对国家安全和唐纳德·特朗普总统打击非法移民计划至关重要的庞大机构。
共和党人周六让参议院继续努力，以任命特朗普国家安全团队的最新成员。国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在周五晚上的一场戏剧性的决胜投票中被确认，与国务卿马可·卢比奥和中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫一起。参议院将于周一晚上就斯科特·贝森特出任财政部长的提名进行下一轮投票。
诺姆是特朗普的盟友，目前正担任州长的第二任期，本周早些时候，参议院国土安全和政府事务委员会以 13 比 2 的投票结果通过了她的提名，获得了民主党人的一些支持。共和党人已经获得了确认她所需的票数，他们也对她领导边境安全和移民执法的决心表示了信心。
“解决这场危机并恢复对法治的尊重是特朗普总统和共和党的首要任务之一，”参议院多数党领袖、南达科他州共和党人约翰·图恩周五表示。“这需要一位果断而忠诚的国土安全部领导人。我相信克里斯蒂具备完成这项任务所需的一切条件。”
民主党人对特朗普执政期间如何处理边境执法和移民问题意见不一，但有些人对他的强硬立场持支持态度。
不过，纽约州参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默表示，他将投票反对诺姆。他指出，“两党共同解决边境问题”是可行的，并补充说诺姆“似乎走错了方向”。
国土安全部长负责监督美国海关和边境保护局、移民和海关执法局和公民及移民服务局。除了这些机构外，该部门还负责确保航空运输、保护政要、应对自然灾害等。
特朗普计划对该部门的运作方式进行重大改革，包括让军方参与移民执法和重组联邦紧急事务管理局。在周五新总统视察北卡罗来纳州和加利福尼亚州的近期灾难现场后，这些计划可能会立即让诺姆成为众人关注的焦点。
在参议院听证会上，民主党参议员反复询问诺姆，即使特朗普要求她不要这样做，她是否会向各州提供灾难援助。
诺姆避免说她会违抗总统的命令，但她告诉议员们，“我将依法实施这些计划，并且不会有政治偏见。”
在特朗普执政的头四年里，有六人轮流担任国土安全部长。
在 2019 年成为州长之前，诺姆担任了她所在州唯一的美国众议院席位八年，她通过与特朗普的密切合作在共和党中崛起。有一段时间，她甚至被考虑成为他的竞选搭档。
然而，去年她出版了一本书，书中讲述了她杀死猎犬的经历，以及她曾与朝鲜领导人金正恩会面的虚假说法，她的政治地位一度下降。
如果得到确认，她将负责解决特朗普最喜欢的问题——边境安全。总统的目标是驱逐数百万非法入境者，这可能会让拥有管理农业州和在农场长大的经验的诺姆陷入困境。在南达科他州，许多移民从事着生产食品和住房的劳动密集型工作，其中一些移民没有永久合法身份。
到目前为止，她已承诺忠实执行总统的命令，并效仿他关于美墨边境“入侵”的言论。
诺姆与其他共和党州长一起派遣国民警卫队前往德克萨斯州协助“孤星行动”，该行动旨在阻止移民。她的决定尤其受到批评，因为她接受了田纳西州一位亿万富翁的 100 万美元捐款来支付部分部署费用。
诺姆说，她选择派遣国民警卫队“是因为这次入侵”，并补充说“那里是一个战区”。
题图：南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆于 1 月 17 日出席参议院国土安全和政府事务委员会的确认听证会。苏珊·沃尔什/美联社
附原英文报道：
Senate confirms Kristi Noem as Trump’s homeland security secretary
The Senate has confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration
By STEPHEN GROVES The Associated Press,Updated January 25, 2025
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17.Susan Walsh/Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.
Republicans kept the Senate working Saturday to install the latest member of Trump’s national security team. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was confirmed in a dramatic tie-breaking vote Friday night, joining Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The Senate will next vote Monday evening on Scott Bessent’s confirmation as treasury secretary.
Noem, a Trump ally who is in her second term as governor, received some support from Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee when it voted 13-2 to advance her nomination earlier in the week. Republicans, who already hold the votes necessary to confirm her, have also expressed confidence in her determination to lead border security and immigration enforcement.
“Fixing this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of President Trump and Republicans’ top priorities,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Friday. “And it’s going to require a decisive and committed leader at the Department of Homeland Security. I believe Kristi has everything it takes to undertake this task.”
Democrats are split on how to handle border enforcement and immigration under Trump, with some warming to his hard-line stand.
Still, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he would vote against Noem. He pointed to “bipartisan solutions to fix the mess at our border,” adding that Noem “seems headed in the wrong direction.”
The homeland security secretary oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. Beyond those agencies, the department is also responsible for securing airline transportation, protecting dignitaries, responding to natural disasters and more.
Trump is planning major changes to how the department functions, including involving the military in immigration enforcement and reshaping the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those plans could immediately put Noem in the spotlight after the new president visited recent disaster sites in North Carolina and California on Friday.
During her Senate hearing, Noem was repeatedly asked by Democratic senators whether she would administer disaster aid to states even if Trump asked her not to.
Noem avoided saying she would defy the president, but she told lawmakers, “I will deliver the programs according to the law and that it will be done with no political bias.”
Six people cycled through as homeland security secretary during Trump’s first four years in office.
Noem, who held her state’s lone U.S. House seat for eight years before becoming governor in 2019, has risen in the GOP by tacking closely with Trump. At one point, she was even under consideration to be his running mate.
Her political stock took a momentary dip, however, when she released a book last year containing an account of her killing her hunting dog, as well as a false claim that she once met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
If confirmed, she would be tasked with delivering on Trump’s favorite issue, border security. The president’s goals of deporting millions of people who entered the country illegally could put Noem, with her experience governing a rural state and growing up on a farm, in a difficult position. In South Dakota, many migrants, some in the country without permanent legal status, power the labor-heavy jobs that produce food and housing.
She has so far pledged to faithfully execute the president’s orders and copied his talk of an “invasion” at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Noem joined other Republican governors who sent National Guard troops to Texas to assist Operation Lone Star, which sought to discourage migrants. Her decision was especially criticized because she accepted a $1 million donation from a Tennessee billionaire to cover some of the deployment cost.
Noem said she opted to send National Guard troops “because of this invasion,” adding that “it is a war zone down there.”
